Opinion

Thursday, March 01, 2018

The Type -surface Flooding Irrigation System being executed at Ogboji by the State government in collaboration with the World Bank under FADAMA 3 programme, is to be completed by next month.

This was revealed yesterday when Governor Willie Obiano visited the project to inspect progress of work.

Under the project, a major canal was constructed to convey water, three kilometers from a nearby Ugbo dam to the farm.

Using gravity, the water is to flow through eight field canals into the farm, with the aid of twelve checkgates constructed at strategic points in the farm.

There is also another arm of the irrigation project sited at Ezira, completing a total of one hundred and ten hectares of land, the coverage of the irrigation project.

Governor Obiano in his remarks, expressed happiness that the project will be coming onboard soon to complement the efforts of his administration towards supporting dry season farming in the State.

He urged farmers in the area to take advantage of the project to achieve their dreams of expanding their operations and contribute more towards the state's match towards food sufficiency and sustenability.

The Commissioner for Agriculture, Mechanization, Processing and Export, Mr Afam Mbanefo said the facility has the capacity to serve about two hundred and farmers and is a major milestone towards achieving the state's target of producing 600, 000 metric tons of rice annually.

The State Project Coordinator for FADAMA 3 Programme, Mr Chukwuka Egbue revealed that the project is at 85 percent completion, remaining the finishing works on the field canals to check environmental challenges that may arise, adding that the 3.12 kilometer road leading to the farm has also been done under the programme.

A major Stakeholder in the Old Aguata region, Chief Titus Anigbogu who noted that Governor Obiano is repositioning the state's economy through agriculture, acknowledged that the agro-potentials that abound in the region which the Governor is reactivating, has great prospects for increasing the state's capacity in food production.